Rotary stapling mechanism



June 9,13. c. G. QUICK EITAL 2,043,558

,ROTARY STAPLING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 25, 1933 Patented June 9, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,043,558 ROTARY STAPLING MECHANISM Cecil George Quick, Donald Arthur Ball, and William Arnold Whitehead, London, England, assignors, by mesne assignments, to R. Hoe & 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 25, 1933, Serial No. 699,720 In Great Britain December 1, 1932 11 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary stapling mechanism.

It has been found. that, in rotary stapling mechanism, in order to assure that the turning over of the. legs of the staples shall be properly effected without risk of deformation it is necessary more or less to roll or curve over the legs of the staples and to do this it is necessary to employ a die having a recess which is deeper than the diameter of the staple wire employed: thus, with the fixed or one piece die hitherto commonly employed, these two conditions operated against the obtaining of a flat staple.

The invention has for its object to provide a simple mechanism for stapling a product with what may be termed a "flat staple, i. e. one in which the turned-over parts of the legs of the staple lie flat or substantially flat against the surface of the product as distinct from one in t which the ends of the legs are more or less curved into the product.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, Figure 2 an elevation of the clenching die assembly, Figure 3 a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrow, Figure 4 a detail view and Figure 5 a view showing a staple clenched on to a product, this view illustrating the shape of staple it is desired to produce.

l is the stapling cylinder which is provided with a staple carrier 2 and a staple forming plunger 3 which takes a length of wire and in co-operation with a stationary horn shapes the wire to form a substantially U-shaped staple which is carried by the carrier 2 and supported thereon by the plunger; this mechanism is well known to those skilled in the art and the operation thereof will not be further described.

4 is the die or clenching cylinder which is provided with a die for turning over the outer ends of the staple legs on to the left hand web as seen in Figure 1. The die is formed by two parts 5, 5, of which the part 5 is formed by a plate or staple-clenching member (see particularly Figure 3) which is located by dowel pins and secured to a base block 1 by a bolt 8, the block I being secured to the cylinder 4 in any convenient manner as by a bolt (not shown) which passes through a central aperture 9 in the block. The other part 6 of the die is formed by a staple guide or member cut away to provide. a jaw m which embraces an upstanding lug II on the block '5 and is pivotally connected thereto by a pin I2. The operating face of the plate 5, the depth of which is indicated by the chain dotted line in Figure 4, is formed to cause" the staple to assume the required shape as shown in Figure 5: the operating face is of substantially V- shape in the cross section of the plate 5 so that (Cl. 1-7) when the two parts of the die are arranged in the position shown in chain dotted lines in Figure 1 and in Figure 3, they provide conjointly a recess I 3, [4 into which, as the two cylinders rotate towards stapling position the ends of the legs of the staple are caused to pass and to be bent over on to the outer web; the part 6 is biased to move into co-operating position with respect to the part 5 by springs l5, IS the extent of movement due to the springs (and hence the co-operating position) being determined by engagement between the limbs of the jaw l and the face of the block I as is shown in Figure 3, and in this co-operating position the two parts project beyond the periphery of the cylinder 4. As however, the cylinders rotate and the stapling points of the two cylinders converge towards each other, the part 6 is caused, by pressure transmitted, through the associated webs or products, from the carrier 2 to be pressed inwardly towards the periphery of the cylinder, this movement being a rocking movement about the pin l2 and against the action of the springs: thus, the plate part being in fixed relationship with respect to the periphery of the cylinder 4 is left projecting from the other part and the position of the parts is so arranged that due to the convergence of the stapling points of the two cylinders l and 4 the plate part 5 operates to flatten out the turned over legs of the staple and thereby provide a flat staple. As the stapling points of the cylinders recede from one another, the part 6 is allowed to. be moved by the springs E5, l6 towards and finally into its 00- operating position with respect to the part 5 in readiness for the next stapling operation.

It will be seen that with an arrangement according to the invention While the recess, during the time that the legs of the staples are being turned over, can be of sufficient depth (which experience has shown should always be greater than the diameter or thickness of the staples) to assure of this part of the stapling operation being effectively carried out by rolling or curving over of the legs of the staples (the two parts 5, 5 being during this time in the conjoint position shown in Figure 3) yet towards the end of the stapling operation the effective depth of the recess is reduced (due to the retraction of the part 6) to enable the part 5 toflatten out the 50 turned over legs of the staple.

What we claim is:-,

i. In stapling mechanism, the combination of a rotary staple supporting member, a co-operating rotary die which is formed of a plurality of 55 parts and means permitting automatic relative movementbetween the parts, the parts in one rel-' ative position conjointly providing a recess the surface of which operates to turn over the legs of a staple and in another relative position leav- 60 ing a part of the surface projecting beyond the remainder of the surface thus enabling the said projecting part to apply a final flattening pressure to the turned over legs.

2. In stapling mechanism, a rotary staple sup: 7

complete surface of the recess in the die operating to turn over the legs of a staple presented thereto and the said movable remainder being caused by co-operation with the supporting memher to recede from the fixed part whereby this latter part applies a final flattening pressure to the turned over legs of the staple. 3. In rotary stapling mechanism, the combination of a. rotary staple supporting member, a rotatable recessed die comprised of two parts one of which is fixed radially as regards the axis of. rotation, and means whereby the other part may have movement with respect to the first part, the two parts in one relative position conjointly providing the recess for turning over the legs of a staple presented thereto and the two parts in another relative position leaving one part projecting beyond the other part to apply a final flattening pressure to the turned over legs of the staple.

4. In rotary stapling mechanism the combination of a first rotatable member, a staple supporting member thereon, a second rotatable member, and a recessed die which is carried on the said second member, and is formed in two parts one in the form of a plate which is fixed with respect to the second rotatable member and provides the central part of the recess and the other movable and slotted to receive the plate, the edges of the slot being shaped to afford in one position of the movable part a continuation of the portion of the recess formed by the plate, the conjoint recess turning over the legs of a staple presented thereto and the movable part being automatically moved relatively to the plate to enable the plate to apply a final flattening to the turned'over legs.

5. In rotary stapling mechanism, the combination of a rotary staple supporting member, a rotatable recessed die comprised of two parts one of which is fixed radially as regards the axis of rotation, means permitting the other part to have movement which is limited in one direction, and a spring biasing the said other part toits limit of movement in which position the two parts conjointly provide the die recess which operates to turn over the legs of a staple presented thereto and the movable part being moved against its biasing spring by the staple supporting member so as to leave the fixed part projecting to apply a flattening pressure to the turned over legs of the staple.

' 6. In rotary stapling mechanism the combination of a first rotatable member, a staple supporting member thereon, a second rotatable member, a recessed die which is carried on the said second member, and is formed in two parts one in the form of a plate having a recess, said recess being fixed with respect to the second rotatable member and provides the central part of the recess and the other of which is slotted to receive the plate, the edge of the slot being shaped to provide a continuation of the part of the recess in the plate, means permitting the said other part to have movement which is limited in one direction with respect to the plate, and a spring biasing the said other part to its limit of movement in which position the two parts conjointly provide the die recess which operates to turn over the legs of a staple presented thereto and thesaid other part being moved by the staple supporting member against its biasing spring so as to leave the fixed part projecting to apply a flattening pressure to the turned over legs of the staple.

7. In rotary stapling mechanism, the combination of a first rotary member, a staple supporting member carried thereby, a second rotary member, a support secured to the second member, a plate secured to the support and formed at its outer end with a recess, a member pivotally mounted on the support and having a slot which receives the plate, the edge of the slot being shaped to provide a continuation of the recess in the plate, and a spring biasing the movable member to one extreme position in which the edge of the slot provides the continuation of the recess in the plate and in which the plate and movable member operate conjointly to turn over the legs of a staple presented thereto while the said movable part is caused by the support ing member to rock against the action of the spring to leave the plate projecting to apply a flattening pressure to the turned over legs of the staple.

8. In a rotary stapling device for a printing machine, a first rotary member having a staple carrier and a second rotary member having a clenching member secured thereto, and a staple guide plate pivotally supported on the said second member and having a recess with a tapered portion fitted to slide over the clenching member.

9. In a rotary stapling mechanism, a pair of cooperating stapling cylinders, a staple carrier on one of the cylinders, a staple-clenching member carried by the other cylinder and fixed relatively thereto, and a staple guide on the said other cylinder, said guide being movable with respect to the clenching member to permit clenching a staple.

10. In a rotary stapling mechanism, a pair of cooperating stapling cylinders, a staple carrier on one of the cylinders, a staple-clenching member carried by the other cylinder and fixed relatively thereto, and a staple guide pivoted to the said other cylinder and movable relatively to the clenching member, said guide having a staplereceiving recess.

11. In a rotary stapling mechanism, having a pair of cooperating stapling cylinders adapted to receive products therebetween, a staple carrier on one of the cylinders, a spring-pressed member pivoted to the other cylinder and adapted to be actuated by pressure transmitted through said products, and means fastened to the last mentioned cylinder and coactable with the spring pressed member to bend staples into clenching position.

CECIL GEORGE QUICK. DONALD ARTHUR BALL. WILLIAM ARNOLD WHII'EHEAD. 

